You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
LG announced its new slate, complete with specs, ahead of IFA, but the tradeshow is our first opportunity to see the G Pad 8.3 in the flesh -- or in the aluminum package, as it were. The company is positioning this tablet as the first full HD tablet in the 8.0-inch category, and as the device best optimized for one-handed use. Specific as those distinctions may be, they do sound pretty appealing.
First thing's first: the G Pad 8.3 in our hands today is not the final version that will ship at the end of the month. LG likely has some software kinks to work out, but it's safe to say that today's model gives us a good idea of what consumers can expect. The G Pad is part of LG's flagship G series line, which includes high-end handsets like the Optimus G Pro and the recently announced G2. As such, this guy looks like a bigger version of its smartphone siblings, which is to say it looks quite nice. The bezels are almost non-existent, and the backside features a silver aluminum backing -- it's a nice contrast to the Pad's black or white plastic finish. The 8.3-inch, 1,920 x 1,200 IPS panel provides the vibrant colors and excellent viewing angles that you'd expect; we've seen similarly high caliber displays on other LG devices like the Optimus G Pro.
At 338 grams, the G Pad is extremely light; a rep made sure to point out that some paperback books even weigh more. Less weight means the tablet is easier to hold in one hand -- even with LG reps talking up the device's featherweight footprint, we found it surprisingly insubstantial. More than the weight, though, the device's 126.5mm width makes it quite comfortable to use. And guess what? It can also fit in a jacket pocket, which may or may not improve your life dramatically. LG utilized data collected by the Korean government about the average hand size in order to arrive at an optimal width for the tablet. We found the slate quite comfortable to grasp with just one hand; it didn't feel like a stretch to grasp across the device.%Gallery-slideshow79665%
Following up on its initial tease from earlier this week, LG has officially revealed the G Pad 8.3 ahead of IFA. The slate's positioned as the next step from its G2 smartphone, and the company claims it's the first eight-inch tablet with a 1920 x 1200 WUXGA (Widescreen Ultra Extended Graphics Array) full HD screen. The device features a 4,600mAh battery, and runs Jelly Bean 4.2.2 atop a 1.7 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor aided by 2GB of RAM. Despite all that, it's just 8.33m thick and weighs 338 grams. Software enhancements include QPair and QSlide -- the former lets you receive messages and calls from JB-equipped Android phones on the G Pad itself, while the latter allows for three apps to run on-screen at once. What's more, with KnockOn you simply tap the screen twice to wake it up. The G Pad 8.3 will be available globally beginning in Q4 in your choice of black or white with 16 GB of storage. No word on pricing just yet, but expect a hands-on once we catch it on the show floor.
Filed under: Tablets
When is an official tablet unofficially announced? The answer to that question seems to have evolved over the years, as LG now tends to out its products in teasers a week or so prior to their actual unveiling (the G2 is a perfect example). Now, the company is continuing that trend with the G Pad 8.3, its first tablet since the Optimus Pad LTE, which LG is teasing in a freshly posted YouTube video.
So far, many of the details are still a mystery, but we do know the mid-sized tablet is coming (presumably alongside a smartwatch and Firefox OS device), and will most likely make its debut at IFA next week. The video involves professional actors real people on the street talking about what makes a tablet right for them, with answers including a portability, ease of use, quickness, full HD display, the ability to connect to smart TVs and keeping it thin. We have no doubt these "interviews" indicate what we can expect from the still-unannounced slate, and we'll be keeping an eye out for more clues as we get closer to its launch. We've embedded the video after the break, along with a shot of the logo.
Filed under: Tablets, Google, LG
Via: AndroidCentral